A discrepancy between how Major League Baseball and the minor leagues treat marijuana use means that, at least in theory, smoking pot can expedite one's path to the bigs. This has apparently been the case for some time, but only really came to light thanks to Yahoo MLB columnist Jeff Passan, who writes of an anonymous minor leaguer's plan to "just smoke my way onto the [major league] 40-man [roster]."

Here is how — again, at least in theory — you could use marijuana to hasten your path to the major leagues.

Step 1: First, become really, really good at baseball. Good enough to make it to the minor leagues and be a legitimate hot prospect that the big club sees as a very real and important part of its future. This takes natural talent, and years of hard work, but is certainly doable.

Step 2: Here's the easy part. Smoke some weed. Then smoke some more weed. Then fail a drug test, and then fail one more after that. Minor league rules dictate a 50-game suspension for a second positive test for "drugs of abuse," and marijuana falls under that umbrella. A third offense is a 100-game ban. A fourth brings a lifetime ban.

Step 3: Through your combination of stellar play and repeated positive pot tests, make apparent that it's in the best interest of the major league club that owns your rights to promote you to the 40-man big-league roster, thereby swooping you away from the minor leagues' harsh penalties and continuing your development into a star.

At this point you're probably all like, 'Whaaaaat? Whoa." Here's the deal.

While minor league baseball has the aforementioned harsh penalties for recreational drug use, the Major League Baseball Players Association uses its union bargaining power to ensure that its members cannot be suspended for smoking pot. But you don't get protected by union rules until you make a major league roster.

The upshot, as explained by Passan: "If a player shows major league potential and a team wants to shelter him from a 100-game suspension for a third offense or lifetime ban for a fourth, it simply needs to place him on the 40-man and subject him to a major league policy that cannot suspend players who test positive for weed."

If you can remain on the major league roster and keep toking up, you risk fines, more frequent testing and possibly a treatment program, but no suspensions.

Of course, no team would ever publicly admit to promoting a player because they value his big league potential more than they care about whether he smokes the occasional joint. An MLB spokesperson told Yahoo that ""we would be extremely surprised if a club made a promotion decision based on the differences in the programs."

Nonetheless, it's technically possible and an interesting scenario to consider — if you only open your mind, man.

Sports Fails

1. Golf Cart Fail

This runaway vehicle wreaked minor on-field havoc following a high school football championship in Texas last December. But a heroic bystander hopped aboard and put on the brakes.

No casualties occurred, and the clip immediately became Internet legend.

2. Penalty Kick Fail

Watch out for the ricochet, goalie! This kid gets it in the right in the chops.

3. Mascot on Rollerblades Fail

What happens when you put an inflatable dinosaur on rollerblades and ask it to skate down a flight of stairs? Amazingness, that's what.

4. Flopping Fail

In sports, to "flop" is to exaggerate the force of contact in hopes of drawing a favorable call from officials. But you've got to time it much, much better than this guy does.

5. Hockey Celebration Fail

Apparently, if you hug a member of the opposite team after scoring a goal in hockey, you will get punched in the face.

6. Innocent Bystander Fail

This kid is just in the wrong place at the wrong time...to the benefit of the rest of us.

7. Representing Your School Fail

College football mascots are supposed to represent their schools in a fun, positive light — which doesn't typically include picking fights. Here, the University of Oregon's duck slams the University of Houston's cougar.

Bonus points for the sick elbow drop, though.

8. Weightlifting Fail

Not saying we could successfully lift 432 pounds above our heads, but dang, that looks painful.

German weightlifter Matthias Steiner dropped this massive barbell on his neck during the London Olympics this summer, but escaped serious injury.

9. Trampoline Dunk Fail

Sometimes, when you fail, you actually win.

10. Hurdling Fail

Why jump over hurdles when you could just RUN STRAIGHT THROUGH THEM?

File under: Never, Ever Gets Old.

11. Paying Attention Fail

After what could best be described as an "optimistic" shot attempt in a game last season, NBA center JaVale McGee showed some nice hustle getting back on defense. Only problem? His team still had the ball.

12. Judgment Fail

But that wasn't McGee's only legendary moment. Here, he shows why it's not a good idea to try dunking from the free throw line mid-game.

13. Olympic Promo Fail

For some reason, London's Olympic promotions this summer involved hanging Mayor Boris Johnson on a zipline while waving a pair of tiny flags.

Then he got stuck halfway through and it was pretty much the best, funniest, awkwardest thing that could have happened.

14. Grand Slam Celebration Fail

Major Leaguer Kendry Morales broke his lower left leg while celebrating a game-winning grand slam in 2010. This edited video provides the before, during and after rundown.

15. Slam Dunk Fail

See? White guys can jump? It's just the landing that's the hard part.

16. High Dive Fail

The announcer here sums it up perfectly. She calls this attempt from the 1992 Olympics "an absolute failed dive."

17. Piggyback Ride Fail

What begins as an innocent enough piggyback ride atop a fuzzy mascot turns into a pretty epic collision — and YouTube gold.

18. Long Jump Fail

Dude! If you're gonna pump up the crowd like that, you can't just faceplant into the sand.

19. Touchdown Celebration Fail

When you think about it, is there any better way to celebrate a touchdown than by pegging an unsuspecting spectator in the face? Bonus points for originality, at least.

20. Pro Golfer Fail

You'd think a professional golfer could put the ball in the hole with less than 16 strokes. Kevin Na — and the rest of the world — found out otherwise on this par-four hole at the 2011 Valero Texas Open.

21. Head-First Slide Fail

Well, that's one way of doing it...right?

22. Time Management Fail

Tie game, clock winding down — it's always better to get one last attempt up than just let the game go into overtime. A full court desperation heave with a 11 seconds to go is never the way to do it, however.

This classic gaffe by the University of Connecticut's Roscoe Smith came during a matchup of top teams in 2011.

23. Boogie Boarding Fail

Its veracity may be suspect, but this 2008 YouTube classic has more than 12.7 million views, despite a mind-numbing soundtrack.

24. Sportsmanship Fail

The summer of 2011 was a tough time for NBA star LeBron James. It was full of lingering ill-will for his decision to the leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and snarky schadenfreude over his initial failure to win a championship with the Miami Heat.

So it makes perfect sense that he'd let off some steam by viciously dunking on a tiny kid at summer camp, right? That's what happens at the 0:43 mark of this video.

25. Standing on a Basketball Hoop Fail

We're not quite sure why this mascot thought standing on top of a basketball rim was a good idea.

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